The Rise Of Minor Sports In The Global Era

Contemporary sport, especially football, basketball, motor sports, cycling, etc. due to its global diffusion and to an advanced ‘mediatisation’ process, is experiencing a considerable internationalization trend which is primarily related to a context progressively global made evident by the presence of foreign athletes in local teams, the increasing number of international club ownerships, and so on. Although globalization has shaken the foundations of many sport cultural and collective identities, in some countries the revamp of traditional sports or the introduction of new sport practices, emerge as a tentative process of local identity ‘reconstruction’. This paper has the aim of enlightening the rise of minor sports in the context of actual globalization. Our exploration is based on qualitative case studies analysis of emblematic sports practices in Italy, Europe and at international level. In the light of our empirical observation we identify two main paths where sports expresses a strong local identity: 1. For some sports, primary football, despite being popular and massively watched worldwide on TV, there are small local clubs and teams that have emerged becoming champions in their respective divisions. As an example consider the remarkable rise of Leicester City FC which won the 2016 English Premier League title or the Italian women volley team Casalmaggiore, winner of the 2016 European Champions League. In this kind of context we found a strong coincidence of local identity and great shortage of economic and financial resources. The territorial environment are usually provincial places with small and medium size economic activities; 2. Minor and niche sports are expression of local identity in societies with political and religious ‘regimes’, like the former Communist States in Eastern Europe or the Islamic countries. In this framework we can include: - traditional and ‘endogenous’ sports rooted in the history and culture of the local community. Such as the Chogan, a kind of Iranian Polo played on horseback, originated in Persia, and the Oina, an ancient sport similar to baseball still played in Romania; - ‘new sporting practices’ like for example the ‘Saudi Skating’ from Saudi Arabia - a roller skating with a speeding car - or the ‘Run Up’ in Czech Republic - a stairs climbing in tower building. These activities can be played wherever, usually in a daily life environment, and do not require specific facilities. Indeed, it is a diversification of urban and public spaces involving sports and recreational activities, in a process that rediscovers local assets utilized for sport practice. Purpose of this research is to seize the variables underpinning the success of minor sports in spite of the globalization flood. The aim is to promote the local sports vitality which favor wellbeing, integration and education of individuals.